Cecilia Garcia Akers (center, front), the daughter of Dr. Hector P. Garcia, listens to details of the upcoming Frontera, an immersive festival that will feature the history of Corpus Christi and will be held November 2 to 4 during an announcement at Heritage Park on Wednesday, September 5, 2018. The event will feature a hip-hop musical on the life of her father. History reenactors were on hand for the event including Sally Howden-Attwood (from left), Bob Yeager and Douglas Crumly.

Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times,

The festival will take place at Heritage Park, La Retama Park and Old Bayview Cemetery.

Heidi Hovda, senior director of creative initiatives for the Corpus Christi Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the free festival will feature the past and present side by side to inform the future. The event is presented by Herrman and Herrman.

"People think of history as flat-dimensional ...something on a page," she said. "Frontera will be a three-dimensional experience ... super-immersive to visitors."

Hovda said the festival will feature historical re-enactments, interactive period arts and crafts, historical walking tours, talks from local authors, theatrical performances and more.

Voices of South Texas – Old Bayview Cemetery Comes Alive will have a kickoff Friday at Heritage ...more

Voices of South Texas – Old Bayview Cemetery Comes Alive will have a kickoff Friday at Heritage Park and events Saturday at Old Bayview Cemetery and La Retama Central Library.

Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times file

"My favorite part about the festival is that it expands on the work of the Voices of South Texas," she said. "We really wanted to tell the city's story in a way where everyone can enjoy and interact with history to better understand our future."

The festival will kick-off at 5:30 p.m. Friday in downtown Corpus Christi.

Old Town Square will have it all!

Members of Mariachi Mexicanisimo perform at the Mother's Day Celebration presented by Driscoll ...more

Members of Mariachi Mexicanisimo perform at the Mother's Day Celebration presented by Driscoll Health Plan at Heritage Park on Sunday, May 3, 2015. The celebration included carnations for the first 200 mothers.

Caller-Times file

The Old Town Square in Heritage Park will be the heart of the festival's activities. Visitors can experience an artisan mercantile, historical re-enactments, a petting zoo, interactive period arts and crafts, a kids zone, an old-time photo booth and live music reflecting the rich diversity of the Coastal Bend.

'Hector!' the musical

Dr. Hector P. Garcia speaks in front of the Molina Vietnam Veterans Memorial in May 1987.

Dr. Hector P. Garcia speaks in front of the Molina Vietnam Veterans Memorial in May 1987.

Caller-Times

Learn about the life and legacy of civil rights leader Hector P. Garcia with a new-age twist. Written by Corpus Christi artists Freddy Perez Jr. (Kinderr), Luis Ramos (Esoteric) and Nick Arriago (Carbon), the hip-hop musical brings the inspiring and effective leader in the Hispanic Civil Rights movement into the spotlight.

The original play is based on the book, "The Inspiring Life of Texan Dr. Hector P. Garcia," by Cecilia Garcia-Akers and is written in the style of hip-hop musical "Hamilton." There will be three shows on Friday and Saturday at La Retama Park. Tickets are $10 per show.

The historical re-enactments

Historical reenactor Kassidy Loveday, 14, retells the story of Mary Grace Swift-Maltby during Voices of South Texas on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016, at Old Bayview Cemetery.

Esther Hackleman/Caller-Times

Learn the stories of Corpus Christi's pioneers from the citizens themselves. Experience a self-guided tour through Old Bayview Cemetery and learn about the people who helped build Corpus Christi through the Voices of South Texas. Visitors can also learn about the people who used to live in the homes at Heritage Park in Old Town Square.

The Bluff tunnel will reopen again!

A large crowd turned out in February 1929 (left) when the city’s bluff tunnel was opened. The ...more

A large crowd turned out in February 1929 (left) when the city’s bluff tunnel was opened. The tunnel in 1975 (right) when the city debated whether to keep it open or close it. The city closed it in 1977. Opening day photo by Sammy Gold; 1975 photo inside the tunnel by George Gongora.

Left, Sammy Gold; right, George Gongora

During the festival, the city of Corpus Christi will reopen the Bluff tunnel, a pedestrian tunnel built in 1929 to link the city's downtown and uptown, to visitors. The tunnel, which has been closed off to the public for a few years, has been remodeled as an exhibit where guests can see some of the city's historical figures. The entrance is at La Retama Park.

Experience Doc McGregor's Corpus Christi

A 1935 “Doc” McGregor photo shows Peoples Street to the left and Schatzel Street angling off to the ...more

A 1935 “Doc” McGregor photo shows Peoples Street to the left and Schatzel Street angling off to the right. Note the unusual shapes of the five major buildings along Schatzel, apparently designed to conform with the variant angle of the street.

Doc McGregor collection

From the 1930s to the 1970s, John Frederic McGregor, known as "Doc McGregor," walked the streets of Corpus Christi with a camera and gave a peek into Corpus Christi during the decades that he lived and worked.

Now, you can too!

The Frontera festival will feature McGregor's unique eye through a guided walking tour using an interactive app that showcases his photographs in the actual place where he snapped the moment with his camera.